Announced Aug 31, 2026; comments accepted until 23:59 on Sep 30 (Digital Agency)
On August 31, 2026, Japan's Digital Agency published for public comment two drafts: a partial amendment to the ministerial order concerning individual numbers, My Number Cards and the provision of specific personal information under the My Number Act (Act No. 27 of 2013; Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications Order No. 85 of 2014), and a partial revision of the technical standards for My Number Cards. The case number is 290608071, filed under the "administrative procedures" category as a formal comment process under the Administrative Procedure Act. The cited legal bases include Article 2(8), Article 18-2(3), (8) and (9), Article 18-3(1) and Article 18-4(1) of the Act, plus Article 39-5 of the order as amended. Card face and IC chip specifications, and the rules on what information may be provided to whom, are set out in these instruments, so both layers are being reviewed together. The comment window runs from 0:00 on Aug 31 to 23:59 on Sep 30, 2026. These remain drafts; the final text will be fixed after the comments are considered.
Mid- to long-term residents registered on a resident record are assigned an individual number and may apply for a My Number Card just like Japanese nationals. The card has become a gateway to daily life — health insurance use, identity verification for bank accounts and mobile contracts, and online administrative applications — so changes to the order and technical standards touch these situations. Because this is still the draft stage, nothing about your current card changes immediately. Still, once finalized the content will shape how the card is handled, so reading the draft text and the summary material early helps you spot anything that affects your own use. If reading Japanese is difficult, you can go through it with your municipal counter or a support organization. Anyone may submit a comment regardless of nationality, until 23:59 on September 30, 2026.
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Source:
Digital Agency / e-Gov Public Comment website (Case No. 290608071)This article was edited and written by freegent Inc. based on the source above.